Fall 2013
A Special Fall insert provided to you by the Belle Plaine Herald and Henderson Independent 952-873-2261 bpherald@frontiernet.net
Cross Country Teams Compete in Two Meets
Football, Volleyball Teams Stay Unbeaten in Conference
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School Board OKs New Textbooks, Lighting, 2014 Preliminary Levy
Homecoming Royalty Belle Plaine High School will mark the end of September and the start of October next week with its 2013 Homecoming festivities. This year, the king candidates are being carried by the queen candidates. The king hopefuls are, from left, Zach Bahr, Joshua Spellman, Blayne Prochaska and Aaron Bigaouette. Missing from the photo is Derek Dahlke. The queen candidates are Marykay Nasby, Jackie Spalding, Emily Vinkemeier, Hannah Johnson and Ashley Morrison. Next Monday’s coronation at the school will start at 8 p.m. in the north gym. More on Homecoming 2013 will appear in next Wednesday’s Herald.
Two Applicants So Far for City Administrator Job As of Monday, the city of Belle Plaine had received two applications for its vacant city administrator position. Earlier this month, the city council authorized staff to begin advertising to seek candi-
dates for David Murphy’s replacement. The starting salary for the position is $74,356 to $81,252. Murphy’s salary at the time of his departure was $98,485. Murphy had held the job for nearly 10 years.
The review period for the applications is scheduled to begin Oct. 2. More information regarding desired qualifications and the job description can be found at www.belleplainemn. com. Applications can also be downloaded at that site.
Prairie Oaks Fall Festival This Saturday Prairie Oaks Institute at 1100 West South Street in Belle Plaine will hold its Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Children’s author Cathy Isles and poet Joyce Sutphen will be on hand. There will be kids activities, including hayrides, farm animals and Labyrinth walks. There will also be a vegetable market, silent auction, live music, food and beverages. For an event schedule and free tickets, visit www.prairieoaksinstitute.org. Prairie Oaks Institute is a nonMembers of the Smith family from Minneapolis, Peyton and profit education and retreat cenKennedy, climbed a tree looking for the right apple Sunday at ter committed to preservation, sustainability and rejuvenation. Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard.
It’s Apple Season in the Valley A bustling crowd stopped by Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard just northeast of Belle Plaine Sunday to pick various types of apples, take wagon and pony rides and use the playground. The orchard overlooking the Minnesota River Valley also offers live music. Area orchards up and down the valley are reporting solid apple crops despite a dry second half of the summer.
The Belle Plaine School Board approved two dips into fund balance to pay for long-overdue textbooks and new lighting for the exterior of district buildings. Monday (Sept. 23), the board unanimously approved Superintendent Kelly Smith’s request to spend between $35,000 and $40,000 on new language arts textbooks for seventh- through 12th-graders. Funds for the purchase will come from undesignated general fund balance. Smith said the language arts teachers in the junior-senior high school have sought new textbooks. The order for the new textbooks was somehow overlooked during the regular rotation of textbook replacement, he said. They should have been replaced during the 2006-07 school year, he said after the meeting. The purchase come atop the approximately $100,000 the district spent on elementary textbooks last spring, an expenditure the district included
in its 2013-14 budget. The district expects to spend about that much on new textbooks each year, Smith said. “This may lower what we spend on textbooks next year,” said Director Gary Steinhagen. The board also unanimously approved new exterior lighting for the district’s buildings. The lights include 164 lights for $36,577.60. A $9,240 rebate will reduce the price to $27,337.60. The new lights will be installed later this fall. The new lights are expected to save the district money operationally because they are 10-watt LEDs and require less wattage, said Jeff Heine, the district’s director of buildings and grounds. He called the old lights “energy hogs.” The district expects the savings from the new lights will pay off the purchase in less than six years. The existing lights have created maintenance issues and are expected to be re-
School Board
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Belle Players to Hold Auditions for ‘A Tuna Christmas’ Sept. 27-28 The Belle Players will present “A Tuna Christmas” written by Ed Howard, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams for this year’s holiday show. “A Tuna Christmas” takes place at OKKK radio station in Tuna, the third smallest town in Texas. Radio personalities Thurston Whellis and Arles Struvie report on various yuletide activities such as the hot competition in the annual lawn display contest and Joe Bob Lipsey’s production of “A Christmas Carol” that is jeopardized by unpaid electrical bills. This nontraditional soon-to-be holiday classic will be presented in three performances Dec. 13-15. The cast consists of a minimum of two men playing multiple characters but is adaptable to accommodate women or additional cast members.
Auditions are open to ages 17 and above. Practices are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-9 p.m. with some flexibility for practice dates. Auditions are Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sept 28
at 9 a.m. at the PAC (Performing Arts Center) located in the Belle Plaine School District Center at 130 South Willow Street. If you are unable to attend either audition session but are interested in auditioning, contact Kelly Zurn at 952-8733909.
Scenic Byway Race Fees at Their Lowest Through Oct. 4 The third annual Belle Plaine Scenic Byway Half-Marathon, 5K and Kids Fun Run races will take place Saturday, Oct. 12. You can register now while the fees are at their lowest. The cost to run in the halfmarathon is currently $40. After Oct. 4 and through race day, the cost will be $50. The fee for the 5K race is presently $25 and will go up to $30
after Oct. 4. The cost of the Kids Fun Run will increase from $5 to $10 after Oct. 4. You can register for either one of the runs at www.belleplainefestivals.org or www.andersonraces.com. Both the half-marathon and 5K courses are USATF certi-
Race
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Clarissa Caola Continues On Path to Full Recovery Community support was strong for 2011 Belle Plaine High School graduate Clarissa Caola as more than 800 tacos were sold at a benefit for her before and during Friday night’s football game between Belle Plaine and Jordan. Approximately $3,400 was raised. “It was a great turnout. I was not expecting that,” said Caola, who was accompanied by a number of family and friends at the event. Caola, 20, the daughter of Bob and Missy Caola, was seriously injured in a car crash July 27 at the junction of Highway 169 and Park Avenue as she was on her way to work at Coborn’s bakery. Caola suffered a traumatic brain injury, fractured pelvis and other injuries. She spent nearly a month at Hen-
Caola
(continued on page 15) Clarissa Caola was surrounded by family and friends at Friday’s taco fund-raiser for her at the Belle Plaine Athletic Complex.